Never Let the Facts Get in The Way of a Good Story: Memory, History, Authenticity and Truth

Memory is a curious creature. It is at once a product of the past, reliant upon previous events or experiences, and yet temporally only present in the moment it is conjured. It is considered privileged over detached academic histories, because of the immediacy and authority of lived experience, and yet for its sustenance is inextricably reliant on the archives it derides.

Andy Brydon will explore how the people in cities create their memories, at once embedded in the past and yet lived, and living, in the present. Looking to tease out the tensions between history, memory, truth and identity, Brydon will examine images of Edinburgh presented in film and literature, draw on the stories he has collected from British urban subcultures and consider the art he produces with photographer Andrew Brooks which is part of their current project Edinburgh: Secret City being previewed at the event.